525 Market

San Francisco, California, US

This building is the Third largest building in the City of
San Francisco but probably around the 100th least recognizable.

In that the explosion of growth in the City to the south of
market and adjacent to the Trans Bay Terminal development is equidistant to the
South from this building as is the existing Financial Center to the North, it
seemed apparent to the ownership that a redefinition of the public spaces would
preserve and enhance the value of the property.

The existing lobby is not observable from the passersby on
the street due to being hidden between an existing row of columns and a dark
set of materials. The redesign
creates a major entry by re cladding the central columns in aluminum ellipse
forms capped by a dramatic canopy extending over the sidewalk and creating a
new lighter palette of materials in the lobby.

Internally the main, two-story lobby is entered through a one-story
space and has been earlier renovated using very dated materials and forms. This design will alter all the
materials and eliminate the one story space by replacing it with a very elegant
bridge. All of the glass will be
low iron and clear. The bridge
will be a marvel of engineering in its thin sections and glass floor, all of
which are hung by fine rods from the ceiling above. That ceiling is created by extending the new canopy from the
outside all the way to the elevator core at the center of the building. The
elevator core is clad in an English Oak and gently curved towards Market Street
outside. It will be seen from the
street and flanked by two dramatic rough-cut Travertine walls on either side of
the lobby. The floor of white
granite is set adjacent to black polished granite at the edges and base just as
the existing base of the building along the street. At the center of the lobby will be a new receptionist desk
formed from corian in a free form so that it becomes both the visual and
functional the of the space.

The plaza is now associated more with the homeless than the users of the
building, but with the development to the south and the need for pedestrian
flow to increase towards Market Street and Bart, this use will change. The new
design features a magical fountain that has limited physical proximity by a
circle of rough textured rocks. It
will replace the existing “bear pit” fountain that currently affords use by the
homeless. The round form of water
will seem to float in the space above the rocks by utilizing the flow of water
over acrylic troughs which will disappear leaving only the image of water. Nearby a cage of light steel mesh will
surround a column of broken shards of glass that is both internally lighted and
accommodates an existing diesel generator exhaust stack. More seating and landscape is
provided at the rear of the plaza including wood “bleachers” facing the
revamped pedestrian travel path to the south.